This invention relates to heating and ventilating apparatus for the cabin of a motor vehicle.
Such apparatus conventionally comprises means for controlling temperature and means for mixing, manually or automatically and in adjustable proportions, streams of cold air and hot air produced by the apparatus, together with distribution means for distributing between various ducts the streams of cold and hot air mixed together. The apparatus may thus include control of several operating modes, such as deicing, ventilating, foot warming, and so on, such as to deliver the air towards the various ducts which terminate in outlets at different corresponding points within the cabin.
Heating and ventilating systems that are known up to the present time often include separate controls for temperature and air distribution, for each of the two front seat positions. However, as regards the rear seat positions in the cabin, it is generally arranged that one simple duct, branched from a front distribution duct, is provided, so that the occupants of the rear seats are able simply to open or close a shut-off valve in order to adjust the flow of air to the rear seat positions.
One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved heating and ventilating apparatus, which offers to each of the passengers in the rear seats the ability to control both temperature and air distribution, as may be required by that person individually. In other words, an object of the invention is to create a specific xe2x80x9cmicro comfortxe2x80x9d zone in each of the four main seating positions in the vehicle, i.e. front right, front left, rear right and rear left, occupied by the passengers of the vehicle, so as to give the occupants a maximum of comfort.
More precisely, the invention is applicable to a heating and ventilating apparatus for the cabin of a motor vehicle of the known type described above, comprising: means for producing streams of cold or refrigerated air and hot air; temperature control means for mixing in adjustable proportions the streams of hot air and cold air; a plurality of air distribution ducts exhausting at different points in the cabin of the vehicle in the region of the front seat positions; and distribution means for distributing adjustably between the different air distribution ducts the streams of hot and cold air, which are mixed selectively as appropriate for the various operating modes.
According to the invention, in a heating and ventilating apparatus for the cabin of a motor vehicle, of the type comprising
means for producing a stream of cold or refrigerated air and a stream of hot air;
temperature control means for mixing the hot and cold air streams in adjustable proportions;
a plurality of air distribution ducts exhausting at different points in the cabin of the vehicle in the region of the front seats; and
distribution means for adjustably distributing the mixture of cold and hot air between the various air distribution ducts, selectively in accordance with various working modes, is characterised in that, the cabin being divided into a plurality of zones each defining a respective position in the cabin, the said positions being front seat positions corresponding to each of the front seats, and rear seat positions corresponding to each of the rear seats of the vehicle:
the said plurality of air distribution ducts further includes ducts exhausting in at least two different points in the cabin in each rear zone, i.e. in the zone of each of the rear seat positions;
a dedicated temperature control means is associated with each of the said rear zones of the cabin, each said temperature control means being adapted to adjust the temperature of air admitted to the said ducts which are open at the said two different points in that zone; and
dedicated air distribution means are associated with each said rear zone of the cabin, for controlling the respective flows of air delivered through the said two different points.
According to a preferred feature of the invention, the two said different points comprise a point in the lower part of the cabin, a midheight point, and a point in an upper part of the cabin, the points in the lower part and at mid-height being preferably situated close to the vertical mid-plane of the vehicle, and the point in the upper part of the cabin being preferably situated at the side of the cabin, in the vicinity of the door.
According to another preferred feature of the invention, means are provided for temporarily closing off the ducts that exhaust into the zones corresponding to the rear seat positions when the distribution means are put into a rapid deicing mode.
According to a further preferred feature of the invention, the temperature control means include a set of multi-valve registers, cooperating with a heat exchanger, each of the said registers being actuated independently by the temperature control means corresponding to the front seat positions and the rear seat positions.
In that case, preferably, the multi-valve registers comprise a plurality of pivotable flap valves driven in rotation about respective axes which are parallel to each other, by a common mechanism such that the valves pivot through the same angle but in opposite directions as between one valve and the next in each register.
Preferably, the temperature control means further include a set of electrical resistance heaters, which are arranged to be energised independently by the temperature control means corresponding to the front seat positions and the rear seat positions.
In preferred embodiments, the multi-valve registers are disposed upstream of the heat exchanger, the temperature control means further including, downstream of the heat exchanger, means for closing off the duct connecting the heat exchanger to the ducts which exhaust into the zones of the rear seat positions, this closing off being carried out when the distribution means are put into a mode for ventilation by cold or refrigerated air.
In this last mentioned case, and if the above mentioned temporary closing means are also provided, the apparatus preferably further includes a valve which is movable selectively between at least three positions, namely a position for temporarily closing off the ducts that exhaust into the rear seat positions, a position for closing off the duct connecting the heat exchanger to the ducts that exhaust into the rear seat positions, and a position in which it closes off no duct.